Man dies in Southeast Baltimore house fire

A 51-year-old man and two dogs died in a house fire in Southeast Baltimore on Saturday night, while four other people escaped, including a woman who suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

The fire broke out in a one-story, wood-frame home in the 6500 block of Eastbourne Avenue, near Dundalk Avenue, shortly after 11 p.m., and firefighters brought it under control about 30 minutes later, city fire officials said.

Firefighters found the male victim unresponsive in a room. The man's official cause of death will be determined by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Three people escaped without injury, while a woman suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns, officials said. She was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's burn center for evaluation, according to Chief Kevin Cartwright, a city fire department spokesman.

Officials with Baltimore's Animal Control program came to the scene to remove the two dogs that died in the fire.

Fire officials did not find a working smoke alarm inside the dwelling, Cartwright said. Police and fire investigators are investigating to determine the fire's cause.

A spokeswoman for the American Red Cross said the organization was providing food, clothes and medication for the fire's survivors.

The firefighters union president, Rick Hoffman, said the fatal fire underscored the importance of keeping fire companies open; Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's budget would close three of the city's 55 fire companies.

Hoffman said firefighters arrived at the scene within four minutes but couldn't prevent the fatality, the second fire death of 2012.

"Everything was in place and we still couldn't do what we like to do, which is never lose anybody," Hoffman said. "How are we going to get there in time with less?"